Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 2, 3:34 AM ET

HEI max pain

Spot (delayed)$356.36
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$320-10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$58±16.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.75293 puts / 389 calls
Call wall$370largest call OI
Put wall$340largest put OI
IV3035.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$160Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $370

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$330-7.4%20d
Fri, Sep 18$330-7.4%48d
Fri, Nov 20$320-10.2%111d
Fri, Jan 15$290-18.6%167d
Fri, Feb 19$370+3.8%202d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot320165236307378449520$6M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 320 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot320165200270340410480175175
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HEI open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

Open-interest change — building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration — the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot32016520027034041048055
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot16523630737844952075%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 370165200270340410480+$122K$122K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.072900.00280.43-0.07-0.14
0.83-0.093000.00320.50-0.09-0.17
0.79-0.103100.00370.56-0.10-0.21
0.75-0.103200.00420.63-0.11-0.25
0.70-0.113300.00460.68-0.12-0.30
0.65-0.123400.00500.73-0.12-0.35
0.60-0.133500.00530.76-0.13-0.41
0.55-0.133600.00550.78-0.13-0.46
0.49-0.133700.00560.79-0.13-0.52
0.44-0.133800.00550.78-0.13-0.57
0.39-0.123900.00540.76-0.13-0.63
0.34-0.124000.00520.72-0.12-0.68
0.29-0.114100.00490.68-0.12-0.73
0.25-0.104200.00450.64-0.11-0.77
0.22-0.094300.00420.58-0.10-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 39 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1852403003604204807740
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot155190250320390460787787
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 2K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: HEI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk